England will seek to exploit Old Trafford pitch

2008/May/19 14:03:00

Text Size

By John Mehaffey.

LONDON (Reuters) - England will seek to exploit a fast, bouncy pitch at Old Trafford this week to target the resilient New Zealand middle-order after failing to force a result in the first test at Lord's on Monday.

For the fifth match in a row, a test at cricket's world headquarters ended in a draw after too much time was lost to rain and bad light in the fickle English spring weather.

The New Zealanders, with a desperately inexperienced top order, were reliant yet again on the experience and fighting qualities of captain Daniel Vettori, all-rounder Jacob Oram and wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum.

Vettori, batting at number eight, scored a gritty 48 in nearly three hours when conditions were at their worst for batsmen in New Zealand's first innings before taking his first five-wicket haul against England.

Oram, who took two for 45 from 19 miserly overs in England's first innings 319, used his power, reach and aggression to great advantage in the second innings on Monday to score his first test century in England and ensure a draw.

McCullum played the innings of the match, a run-a-ball 97 when New Zealand were in deep trouble on Thursday's opening day.

England included Hampshire paceman Chris Tremlett in their squad for the second test in Manchester as a replacement for the injured Matthew Hoggard and fast bowling will be at the forefront of their thoughts.

AGGRESSIVE INTENT

Oram looked ill at ease when forced on to the back foot in New Zealand's first innings and England's leading bowler Ryan Sidebottom later suggested the attack had not been aggressive enough against McCullum, who advances down the pitch to the quicker bowlers to upset their length.

On Monday, Stuart Broad struck McCullum on his left forearm, during a lively spell forcing him to retire hurt. McCullum returned to the fray later in the day after going to hospital for a precautionary x-ray.

"Old Trafford will be a quick bouncy wicket, it always is. Old Trafford is a good pitch to bowl the short stuff on," England captain Michael Vaughan told a news conference.

"We are very confident that we can put in a good performance at Old Trafford and put New Zealand under some more pressure. Old Trafford is a good ground for us."

New Zealand reshuffled their batting order for Lord's, moving McCullum from seven to five, dropping Oram from six to seven and giving Daniel Flynn a debut at six.

Flynn responded with a battling 29 not out in the second innings, sharing a century partnership with Oram which put the match beyond England's reach.

"He (Flynn) is a hard little guy. He doesn't give too much away. He's got that number six role basically for as long as he wants. I like the balance of Brendon at five and Daniel at six," Vettori said.

Vettori also paid tribute to McCullum's courage in returning to the crease and Oram's 101.

"He's been bowling exceptionally well for some time and maybe his batting hasn't been as good as he would have liked. He came out today and played his natural game. When he plays like that he's as good as anyone," Vettori said.

"Five test centuries against tough opponents on tough grounds shows how good a player he is."